Aegis

Why Aegis

Aegis is a Superpowers upgrade for teams using AI coding agents on real software work. It keeps the useful idea of composable skills, then adds:

• baseline-first planning before risky changes
• evidence before completion claims
• repair track plus retirement track for bugs, fallbacks, and compatibility paths
• workflow quality guardrails so simple tasks stay cheap
• portable method-pack skills across skill-aware hosts

Aegis is useful when agents otherwise start coding before the goal, owner, architecture boundary, or verification path is clear.

Quick Install

Give this prompt to your AI coding agent:

Read https://github.com/GanyuanRan/Aegis, identify my current AI coding host, and install Aegis globally using the correct host guide. Restart or reload the host if needed, then run complete-install verification from the installed Aegis method-pack root. Do not run the doctor command from the target project directory. First locate `<aegis-method-pack-root>`, then run `cd <aegis-method-pack-root> && python scripts/aegis-doctor.py --write-config --json`. Treat the install as complete only if the JSON includes `"ok": true`, `"workspaceSupport": "available"`, and `"configStatus": "configured"`; if the host uses a separate skill discovery directory, also verify it with `--discovery-root <path>`; if the host guide declares a skill directory name prefix, also pass `--discovery-name-prefix <prefix>`.

Updating Aegis

After a complete install has registered the current host, later updates can use natural language such as update Aegis or the explicit skill request aegis:update. The agent can route either form through the local update path: locate the installed method-pack root, use the host-scoped registry, and call scripts/aegis-update.py for the current host by default. Updating every registered host requires an explicit --all request. Aegis does not run background automatic updates by default.

Before You Use It

Aegis is currently:

Aegis Method Pack (runtime-ready)

It is not the full Aegis Platform, a daemon, a background runner, a runtime core, an authoritative GateDecision, an authoritative PolicySnapshot, or final completion authority. User instructions and target-project rules outrank Aegis guidance.

For smoother host-level behavior, use:

• Lite global rules
• Advanced global rules template

Activation mode defaults to automatic. To switch to explicit mode, run this from the installed method-pack root:

cd <aegis-method-pack-root>
python scripts/aegis-doctor.py activation-mode explicit

Restart the host after changing activation mode. Details and host caveats live in docs/current/AEGIS_ACTIVATION_MODE.md.

TDD mode defaults to off: Aegis does not automatically require TDD, and completion verification still applies. To enable automatic TDD routing when you want Aegis to choose strict, light, or skipped by task risk:

cd <aegis-method-pack-root>
python scripts/aegis-doctor.py tdd-mode auto

You can also request strict TDD directly in a query with explicit markers such as TDD Route: strict, strict TDD, test-first, or RED / GREEN / REFACTOR.

Details live in docs/current/AEGIS_TDD_MODE.md.

Supported Hosts

Aegis keeps a multi-host, plugin-installable distribution goal.

Read the current host verdict before making support claims:

• Host compatibility matrix
• Known limitations

Start Fast With Aegis

After installation and host restart, use normal language. Aegis matches the method to the work; name a mode directly when you want less ambiguity.

Why does this login failure happen? Diagnose it before changing code.
Grill me on whether we should ship a hosted version first.
Aegis goal: Fix the auth refresh bug without rewriting the auth system.
Review this diff independently before I merge it.

Read the Fast-Track Playbook for Aegis's lightweight operating model, how it differs from standalone skill packs, its five engineering moats, project workspace lifecycle, natural trigger phrases, controls, and troubleshooting. The Chinese version is Aegis 速通秘籍.

Use these explicit requests when you need tighter control:

• Aegis goal: ... frames scope, success evidence, and boundaries.
• Grill me ... or 审问我 ... starts a decision interview; it asks one decision question at a time and does not plan or implement.
• TDD Route: strict, strict TDD, or test-first explicitly requests strict test-first work. TDD is otherwise off by default.
• aegis:first-principles-review or review this from first principles pressure-tests a complex direction before implementation.
• aegis:update updates the installed method pack through its host-aware path.

For non-trivial project work, Aegis can passively reuse relevant canonical language from CONTEXT.md or a bounded context selected by CONTEXT-MAP.md. It activates domain modeling only when a term is resolved, ambiguous, renamed, deprecated, or conflicting. High-confidence existing facts may synchronize directly; unresolved domain decisions remain user-owned. Files are created lazily on the first resolved term and remain glossary-only. Stable bytes can be cache-friendly, but Aegis does not guarantee provider cache hits or savings.

Aegis preserves Workflow Quality by keeping simple work light and expanding only when risk warrants it. For deeper method detail, read the Workflow Guide, Workflow Quality Baseline, Complexity Governance Baseline, and TDD mode.

If a capability does not trigger as expected, use trigger-chain diagnosis: install/version visibility, host skill discovery, activation mode, using-aegis routing, task-to-skill matching, and context pressure. Read the Trigger Health Baseline.

For Maintainers

Primary verification entry:

bash tests/e2e/run-all.sh --full --host-profile fast

Focused docs / method-pack checks:

bash tests/e2e/boundary-compliance-check.sh
bash tests/e2e/workflow-quality-check.sh
bash tests/e2e/install-verification-policy-check.sh
bash tests/e2e/layer1-fast-check.sh --host-profile none

Read:

• docs/testing.md
• Release checklist
• Current authority map
• Contributing

Relationship To Superpowers

Aegis is derived from Superpowers, created by Jesse Vincent. Superpowers pioneered composable, multi-harness agent skills. Aegis keeps that foundation and adds an architecture- and evidence-focused method layer for real software projects.

Additional inspiration comes from mattpocock/skills, especially concise communication, shared language, and disciplined debugging patterns. These ideas were re-implemented in Aegis format rather than copied verbatim.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE.